For Blood
by Master-of-the-Key
Summary: The city is in ruins, the undead rule it now. But there are still those who live that long for survival. But, unlike others, this is the story of Nikolas Green, a just-turned living dead. This is a retelling of his life after death.
1. Prologue

For Blood

For Blood

"Are you sure we will be able to overtake them?" asked a worried officer.

"I'm just about as clueless as you, but, knowing the boss, if he tells us we will, then there's nothing to worry about," answered the other, a little bit of preoccupation in his voice.

Soon after the Umbrella gave way to the city to thousands of living corpses, the Army, ironically in Umbrella's charge, stood up to fight the oncoming wave of undead. They spent hours trying to take the bastards- as they would call them- down. But, to the surprise of every living thing that could see, they didn't stay on the floor, as expected. On the contraire, they'd get up and charge again with more might and determination to catch the oh-so-close pray. The living now feared Death and the dead. No human- or animal, as far as we know- would like to get turned, infected by one of those Satan's puppets. Craving flesh of the living, savoring the blood of their victims, longing for that tasteful, living meat, which was all they ever thought of.

Hundreds of living men where sent to the streets of Raccoon City to try and retrieve all the living pedestrians they could find wondering the streets for survival. To whoever didn't find such, or wasn't ordered that task, would have to be at the battle's first line of defense, which was about as strong as a fort made of twigs. They gave praise to whomever they idolized for the pursuers where slow. They took advantage of those precious ten seconds that those demons- as they would also call them- took to take a single step. While ten of them gave one step, thirty officers had already locked, loaded, shot and reloaded. As for the demons, they could care less if they where to cut their heads of. They felt and where looking for the same thing: something to eat.

Why would meat from their fellow species fill their empty dead bodies? Why do acts of cannibalism on a loved one? Why the need to feed on flesh? Why not eat each other if it's human meat what they're looking for? Why act like they act? Sadly and unfortunately, some of these questions might never be answered. They took that secret to the grave, as a figure of speech, for all they did is silence themselves.

A tumult of about twenty was closing in on the military camp. As the alarm sounded, about fifty men and women, with huge guns, came out of house-size tents. Following a bright red flare signal, they reached the outer limits of camp, where, because of potent beams of light pointing from various directions, the militaries could see the coming wave.

"Alright, my men…!" started General Tom Phillips, when he was interrupted by the clearing of a throat.

It came from Maritza Mendez, the only woman in that squad. She came from a place where the idea was that men are the strongest, workers, bringers of food, and women where just for the home and fornication. Listening to General Phillips say such a comment, she felt appalled. She decided to put the name of women high as the limit of this vast universe. And including her in the term "men" made her feel awkward and very uncomforted. So she decided to put an end to it.

"Sorry Maritza… Men _and_ women," continued the General in a whatever-you-say-but-we-don't-have-much-time tone. "At my signal fire those slimy, dirt bags back to they hole they just crawled out from!"

They waited a good three minutes before the first of the many came into sight, thanks to the strong beams of light. Everybody's stomachs twitched as they saw them. Putrid flesh falling from them at every step, coagulated blood pouring out of holes made from previous Army encounters and a breath that stank so much that it could fumigate a whole cornfield, and rid it from its parasites, plus the corn.

"Fire!" said the General when at least five of them came into view.

Piece of cake, thought the whole squad. Fire shots emitted form a gun, but it wasn't any gun of theirs. A few nanoseconds after the sound had been produced, all the lights sized to function. They all heard the same bursting sound, so it was natural they thought someone blew them to pieces.

The squad was so perplexed by the situation; they didn't give a hoot about their predator's closing range. That's until one squad member got had a gap on his neck. After he screamed, the whole squad dispersed into the night. "Retreat!" some yelled, while other just did it. A few minutes later, the camp belonged to Death; yet another conquered spot for Satan's puppets. Nobody knew who'd fired those shots, all they knew was that they where heading for a city of death.

In the camp remained our main character. His name is, or was, Nikolas Green. He was a high school teacher in Raccoon City. He had a normal life, just like everybody else there. He got attacked in his home, they cornered him, but his dog, Grumpy, managed to distract them long enough for Nikolas to escape unharmed. As he was exiting his house, he spotted several others doing the same. A yelp of pain came from inside the house. Grumpy was no more. That's what Nikolas thought. A few minutes into his hiding-from-the-dead frenzy, he heard some panting and the sound of nails being placed on the street. He turned in hope to see his beloved pet return unharmed, but all he found was that his precious pet had been turned into one of them. The berserk animal rushed towards his master and, with a jump worthy of a champion dog, managed to take a bite at his thigh. Nikolas screamed in pain, he saw how his favorite white shirt became scarlet as the dog punctured his skin with his sharp teeth. Lucky for Nikolas, a close neighbor and friends, Tom Finning, bore a shotgun and shot the already dead dog to bits.

"Thought you could use a little help," said Tom.

And, with a smile, Nikolas and Tom headed towards the center of Raccoon City, where they heard help was waiting for them.


	2. Satan's Puppets

Chapter 1: Satan's Puppets

Chapter 1: Satan's Puppets

Nikolas Green and his close friend and neighbor Tom Finning where found heading for downtown Raccoon City. Panting and tired, every three seconds they looked over their shoulders just to see the same thirty to forty undead following them. They felt pity for them, but they also wanted to blow their heads of, especially Tom. The streets where desolate, no a living soul could be seen or heard, except our escaping duo. Every house, every corner, every street they encountered, they only saw gore, death and cannibalism. How did Nikolas and Tom get to where they where, being chased by all of them?

After Grumpy's attack on Nikolas- Grumpy was Nikolas' dog- they headed towards the high buildings they thought would help them get recued. They had a long way to go, for they lived in the outer suburbs. Their goal was to some how get to the Umbrella's Hospital, located somewhere in the middle of the city. During their trajectory, in one street they found poor little Sonya, a five year old girl, eating her already dead mother, Beatrice. This sickened their poor souls, so Tom, with a shotgun in hand, did what was right- or what he thought was right. He aimed at her back, close to her heart.

"This is going to kill her in a snap," said Tom with an air of confidence.

He placed his finger on the trigger and fired at one. The shot was so great it made a hole on Sonya's back. With this Sonya fell on top of her deceased mother. Tom was jumping up and down with excitement, while Nikolas stayed dumbfounded, he couldn't believe Tom had just shot a little girl.

"Why did you do that for?" asked Nikolas. "She was just a little girl who did nothing to us!"

"Well, it was either her or us."

"She never even saw us! How could she do something to us if she couldn't even…?"

Nikolas was interrupted by a deep, loud and long moan. The looked everywhere, but saw nothing that could emit it. Tom readied his gun, just in case. Then they saw movement on the corner of their scared eyes. It was cute little Sonya. She had already begun to get up and move towards them, thirst and hunger in her deep, empty eyes. This troubled Nikolas and Tom, for the moan attracted others, adults, children, men, women all the same. And they, for some reason, started charging also at them. Their instincts quickly got a hold of them and made them run in the opposite direction. And that's how they got to where they where.

Now, continuing that story. Nikolas and Tom where sweating like pigs. They had been running for almost half an hour now trying to ditch their followers, but nothing. Others came from different places and new ones joined in on the hunt.

Nikolas, in the time they've been running, had shown weird signs he never thought possible in a human being. As he run, his lungs weren't functioning correctly, but he still managed to sprint like a jaguar, and scream. His heart beat, he felt, had decreased enormously instead of accelerating as it is expected. And, even though he brought a bottle of water from his home, he felt this unquenchable thirst he could not explain. He never said a word of this to Tom, he was screaming so loud it was useless to make him talk.

They, after much running, finally saw the entrance to the city. They ran even harder. When approaching said entrance, they saw destroyed cars engulfed in wicked fires. People lying on the streets missing body parts and some small obstacles they had to pass in order to get to the desired city. That's when it happened. One of those small obstacles, an old can of coke, served as a tripper for Nikolas. Tom- that fat bastard, as Nikolas called him- kept running for the city. The only thing he said was: "Sorry Nik! Got to go on!" But all that was futile. Some feet ahead there was a blockage, not of the Umbrella Army, but of the living dead. They cornered Tom. He began shooting like crazy, but it was of no use, he didn't know their weak point for he kept shooting and shooting and those things kept coming on to him. It all resulted in Nikolas seeing first hand how those things fed.

There was only one problem now, the group that was getting closer by the second to Nikolas. What to do, he thought. He couldn't get up; he lay motionless on the floor. Was he already accepting his death and acted as such? Or was there something else involved? He closed his eyes, and a tear fell from one of them, he knew his fate was going to be like Tom's. But to his surprise, the group continued on, completely ignoring him. What a miracle! He had been saved! He was given another chance to live! That's what he thought, until he felt his heart beat no more.

Electricity ceased for existing in his body. His lungs didn't move anymore. He just laid on the ground, still motionless. But even though he knew he had perished, he still felt conscious. Was it an effect of death? Will he open his eyes and be in Paradise? He didn't dare to venture to open his eyes. In the darkness of the eyelids and image came up, it was glowing, its red and white colors shining in his brain. It's some kind of mark of the saved, thought Nikolas. That's until he remembered where he had seen that familiar sign. It was Umbrella's red and white umbrella. But why would it appear after him like that? The answer came clear when a female voice talked to him, also deep in his head.

"Welcome," said the voice, it sounded all robot-like to Nikolas. "To life after death. We are currently making some tests in the field of bio-weapons and we're glad to say that you, Nikolas Green, have been chosen to be a part of this experiment. Now feel free to roam the city, and try to reunite with lost friends and family. We will track your progress from our headquarters, hidden somewhere in the mountain. We beg of you to not leave the city, for if you do, you will truly die. Think of this as a second chance to live! Hope you enjoy your other life! Yours truly, S. A. M. P."

What did she mean? He ventured to open his eyes. Sunlight washed away that awful picture of the umbrella. The sight of a blue sky with a few clouds lifted his spirit- if I had one, he thought. He sat down and looked around. He looked at his hands, not much difference. He was looking into an empty street; he was still in the same street, but it was now empty. He figured they all went to take a bite out of Tom. So he turned around and, as expected, all of them where surrounding the body. He then saw as two of them fought for Tom's whole arm. Then it happened. He totally lost it; he lost control of his whole body all at once. The expression he had faded into one like a deep trance then he just got up. He wasn't doing it, he thought, someone else was. Saliva started pouring out of his wide opened mouth. Out of there also came a series of unexpected moans, the likes of which he never thought to produce. What was he going to do? Who was supposedly controlling him? That didn't matter, at least for the body. The other two fighting for the arm lost it and it landed just a couple of feet from Nikolas. He didn't know what he was doing. He walked, slowly, towards the arm, picked it up, smelled the fresh blood, and, surprisingly, took a bite of it. Even though he wasn't controlling himself, he liked it. So he didn't matter that they made him take another bite, and another and another until just a single bone was left in his hand. He had a rush he had never experienced before. The warm blood made way thru the body, he presumed, and gave energy to those dead cells that needed it. He then walked to the giant corps of Tom Finning.

When he got there, he felt unexpectedly upset to see the corps had already vanished. Then something incredible occurred. One of them spoke!

"There's no where to go!" said one with a missing limb. "We come into the suburbs and find livings. It was the same story when we got to the city!"

"I heard they weren't letting them abandon the city," said and old lady that, since she was already old, her skin was decomposing at a high speed.

By "they", Nikolas understood Umbrella.

"Then what can we do? Every single turn we take we encounter one of them! Then we turn into these monsters and eat them! I can not live like this!" said a man.

"Then what do you propose, Albert?" said a woman who obviously knew him.

"I say we go to the city, get into the closest gun shop and kill ourselves!" some cheered at Albert's idea.

"That won't be necessary," said a little girl's voice.

Everyone started looking for her, and they found her in the outer limits of the group.

"What do you know little girl?" said Albert despicably.

"During my transmission I overheard a couple of officials talking about a missile headed this way, so there isn't any point in killing ourselves. I say we live like we've never lived these last minutes on earth!" the voice came from the girl Nikolas saw earlier, Sonya.

Even more people cheered to Sonya's idea. It was obvious Sonya held a lot of respect from the group, even if she was just a little girl.

"Huh, excuse me?" began a shy Nikolas.

Everyone's head turned quickly at the unknown voice. The old lady spun her head so strongly her head came off, she then fell on the ground, lifeless at last. But everybody ignored that, they kept their eyes placed on the stranger that just talked.

"Um, sorry, but, what's going on?" Nikolas asked.

"Who are you?" asked Sonya, taking the lead of the group.

"I'm Nikolas Green; I live around here and…"

"Yeah, I've seen you," started a fat man in the back. "You're the one whose wife ran away with the milkman! Am I right?"

Sadly, yes, thought Nikolas, but he ignored that out of place question.

"Enough!" demanded Sonya. "You must be one of us. I see your mouth full of fresh blood but nothing is broken in your mouth. We also haven't transformed into those hideous beasts. How is it you came to be one of us?"

"I don't know, I just fell on the floor and, before I knew it, I was eating a human arm," fear could be sensed in his voice.

"Did you, by any chance, get bitten?"

"Not by a human," but he went and think. "I did get bitten by my dog."

"Had he been infected?"

"I don't know. I guess."

They all knew why he had been turned. A bite from either a person or an animal could turn any living thing into a living dead.

"Would you care to join our group?" asked Sonya.

"Excuse me? Group?"

"Yes, Satan's Puppets."

"Wow, what a name for a group!"

"Didn't you find it odd," started explaining Sonya. "That when you woke up after your message from S. A. M. P.…"

How did they know he had a message from her?

"Inexplicably you began to search and feed on human flesh?"

"Well, of course!"

"The answer is that they, the Umbrella Corporation, are controlling the very movements of us just to see how good a weapon we are. We are just their puppet, that's the reason for the name. That detail not many living people know."

Nikolas thought the girl knew too much. "So we are dead," he thought. He was about to ask her how she came too know so much, when they heard a distant explosion.

Everyone's neck turned to the place of the explosion. Their eyes widened and fear ruled their faces.

"It's him! Run!" said Albert.

Everyone began to run and take cover. Everyone except for Nikolas, who didn't knew what was going on.

In the distance he saw a figure. A figure who was tall, all buffed up and scary. Nikolas stayed at the center of the street, dozens of hidden eyes looking at him from all directions. Even though he knew he had to hide, he didn't. Fear froze every dead muscle of his yet living body. He shivered as the figure got closer and saw how much bigger it was than he expected.

Behind the door of an unoccupied house, Sonya looked out to the street from the mail delivery slot in the door. Her beautiful hazel eyes saw as the stranger stayed in middle of the street. She was beginning to worry that he might spoil everything and tell him the whereabouts of the others. She crossed her fingers. She held her breath and prepared for the worst.

"It's him," she said to her self. "It's Nemesis…"


End file.
